The preseason SEC player of the year was in a funk. Jud Fabian was off to 3-19 (.158 start) heading into Wednesday’s game.

Consider that slump busted.

Fabian blasted two home runs and drove in five runs in the Gators’ 8-3 win over North Florida. The home runs were the first of the year for the junior who is projected as a top-10 pick in this year’s MLB Draft and a long time coming.

“I just really kind of put it aside, got it out of my head, talked to a few of the coaches about my swing, and got my mental side of things back to where it needed to be,” Fabian said after the game.

Fabian insists he wasn’t pressing early on in the season, “It’s a long season, we have 56 games or however long we have. It’s the game of baseball. You’re going to fail more times than you succeed. Just kept at it, kept working hard.”

Fabian and the offense continued hitting, notching their fifth consecutive double-digit hit game of the season, while freshman Chase Centala earned his first career start. Centala made an appearance last Friday against Miami but didn’t make it out of the inning. Wednesday night was a different story.

Centala was told about two hours before the game that he would be getting the start. Centala retired the side with two strikeouts in the top of the first and retired the first batter he faced in the second.

“After last weekend it meant a lot to me because I don’t think I was mentally ready for that Miami game. I had so many nerves (against Miami) and I think getting the four up, four down was really good for my confidence.”

Centala would throw four scoreless innings but needed to dig down deep in the third inning. A throwing error by Josh Rivera allowed a runner to reach second with one out in the frame. A passed ball put what would have been the first run of the game on third. Centala got the next two Ospreys to strike out, leaving the score at 0-0.

That’s when Fabian lifted the first of his two home runs to break the scoreless tie.

Centala would last four innings, allowing just four hits, while striking out four and allowing no runs. It was a bounce back performance for the young freshman and one that should help him moving forward.

The Gators added four more runs in the fifth inning, three off the bat of Fabian’s second home run which had an exit velocity of 112 miles per hour, the second hardest hit ball of the season.

Florida used a mixture of Trey Van Der Weide, Christian Scott, and freshman Timmy Manning to close the game out. As a whole, the pitching staff walked just two batters, the fewest of any game this season.

Florida improved to 3-2 on the year and will host a very tough Samford baseball club this weekend at Florida Ballpark.

Kirby McMullen is day-to-day with an ankle injury. The senior left Tuesday's game in Jacksonville with an ankle injury and did not play on Wednesday. Kevin O'Sullivan believes McMullen will be healthy and ready to play this weekend when the Gators host Samford.

Second year freshman Ryan Cabarcas has yet to throw this season while going through some arm issues. Cabarcas threw today in the bullpen and is expected to be able to pitch this season.

The same cannot be said, unfortunately, for second year freshman Tyler Nesbitt, who will undergo Tommy John surgery next week. Nesbitt is the second Gator pitcher to have to have the surgery this season. Nick Pogue previously had the same injury the week before the season began.

Jacob Young led the game off with a double, extending his hitting streak to 23 games dating back to the final game of 2019, 635 days ago.